Primus inter pares

THE KISS OF DEATH

Being the political aficionado that I am, I enjoy giving my own analysis of organizations claiming victory and success in the elections.

The only one I’ve seen thus far is from the Conservation Voters, who claim they “made gains during the primaries toward electing what it calls a bi-partisan conservation majority.”

I’m not sure exactly what that means, but I guess they are looking to establish a majority in the General Assembly that is anti-growth. Regardless, as FITSNews correctly points out, “winning” with incumbents isn’t that impressive. But let’s take an even closer look:

Twenty-one out of their 30 endorsements were sitting legislators

They only endorsed four “challengers” – all of whom lost except one

They won five and lost 3 in the “open” seats – yet two of those wins were House members moving to the Senate.

So in reality, there are potentially four “new” members of the General Assembly defined as “conservationists” by this group. I don’t know about you, but that’s not my definition of success.

But maybe there’s something more at play here. A particularly disturbing fact if you are a Republican is that three out of 4 Senate Republicans they endorsed lost. And while they fared a bit better at six and 4 in House Republican primaries, the combined Republican endorsement success rate for the Conservation Voters is a measly fifty percent (50%).

Their thirteen and 3 record with the liberals certainly pumps up their win percentage, but that’s of course their bread and butter.

My conclusion: Despite efforts by the Conservation Voters to convince the public they are bi-partisan, they still cater to anti-growth liberals and conservative pro-business voters know it. If I were a Republican candidate for office, the greenie endorsement is not something I’d be clamoring to get. In fact, depending on your district demographics it could very well be the Kiss of Death!